Women's Basketball Leads Wire to Wire In Lopsided Win

LAREDO, Texas – A well-balanced attack for the St. Mary's Women's Basketball team lifted them to a 90-47 victory over Texas A&M International on Saturday afternoon to complete the season sweep.

All 11 players for the Rattlers (11-10, 10-7 Lone Star Conference) scored at least two points and 10 of the 11 grabbed multiple rebounds, while no one played more than 27 minutes in the lopsided win over the Dust Devils (8-15, 5-12 Lone Star).

The game was delayed by 47 minutes, however it didn't seem to affect the Rattlers offense as they shot 47.9 percent for the game and 41.7 percent from beyond the arc (10-for-24). The Gold & Blue also missed only one free throw, shooting 92.3 percent (12-for-13). The defense also shut down the Dust Devils as they shot only 24.5 percent for the game and 14.3 percent from the three-point line. TAMIU scored 19 of its 47 points at the free throw line, going 19-for-21 (90.5 percent).
Freshman Briley Perkins (Houston, Texas) tied her career-high with 20 points to lead all scorers, while junior Hannah Wilson (Fredericksburg, Texas) posted her fourth double-double in five games with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Audrey Wandji (Houston) also scored in double figures with a season-high 12 points. Junior Jessica Barbosa (Bissai, Guinea Bissai) led the team with five assists and point guards Alexia Torres (San Antonio) and Mya Culiver (Rockwall, Texas) each had four steals.

Perkins sank six three-pointers in the game – in just 17 minutes of game action – to tie the school record. She is the third player this season to accomplish the feat, joining junior Soteria Banks (Round Rock, Texas) and fellow freshman Bella Hughes (Argyle, Texas) on the list.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Wilson got the Rattlers off to a fantastic start, scoring eight of the first 10 points of the contest for the 8-2 lead. Perkins nailed her first of six three's and Wilson followed with another layup to stretch the lead to 13-2 with 5:30 left in the quarter. After a Dust Devils triple, Perkins drained her second to kick off a 12-0 run for the Rattlers. TAMIU made six free throws, while Hughes made three sandwiched in-between to end the first quarter at 28-11.

Wilson kept things going with the first four points of the second stanza, while Banks made a pair of free throws and Perkins drilled her third triple for the 37-11 score at the seven minute mark. The Devils made a layup and Torres answered with a jumper just 10 seconds later for the 39-13 score. After another TAMIU layup, the Rattlers poured in 10-straight points to lead 49-15 with 1:59 remaining. The Dust Devils sank a three and Wandji scored on a traditional three-point play with three ticks left for the 52-18 halftime score. Wilson led all players with 17 at the break, while Perkins added 15.

The third quarter started the same as the first two, with a layup by Wilson. TAMIU answered with its own layup before Perkins hit a three for the 37-point lead, 57-20. After a four-point run by the Dust Devils, the Rattlers responded with five straight. The teams traded points the remainder of the quarter for the 70-30 tally.

The fourth quarter began with a pair of free throws by TAMIU and Wandji scored on consecutive baskets with one free throw by TAMIU sandwiched in between for the 74-35 score at 8:19. Freshman Sydney Hardeman (Allen, Texas) scored, the Devils answered with four straight to bring the score to 76-39. Each team made a free throw and the Rattlers used an 8-0 run to lead by 45, 85-40. A small four point run was scored by the Dust Devils, but StMU tallied five in a row before the final points of the game, a traditional three-point play for TAMIU for the 90-47 final.

TEAM & INDIVIDUAL PLAYER NOTES

• The 47.9 shooting percentage for the Rattlers is the third-highest percentage of the season and the first time in nine games the team has shot over 40 percent from the floor.
• Briley Perkins becomes the second Rattler this season to score 20 or more in multiple games this year, joining Soteria Banks who has done so eight times. Perkins also scored 20 at Cameron on Jan. 9.
• Perkins also tied the school single-game record with six three-pointers in the game, becoming the third player this season to accomplish the feat (Soteria Banks vs Central Oklahoma, Nov. 29, 2019 & Bella Hughes vs Oklahoma Christian, Jan. 4) and the seventh player in school history (April Jordan, 1999; Nicole Brantley three times, 2002-03; Dezirae Ellis, 2015 and Kaitlin Walla, 2018).
• With her three assists in the game, Lexi Torres moved into 10^th on the St. Mary's career chart with 260, passing Arysia Porter (2015-19) who had 259. Torres needs just three more to move into a tie for 9^th with Jackie Woods (2011-14) with 263.
• Hannah Wilson recorded her eighth double-double of the season and the fourth in the last five games with 19 points and 10 rebounds. She is now just one of 10 players in school history to record more than 600 rebounds in a career as she currently ranks 10^th with 606.
• The Rattlers made 10 three-pointers in the game, the ninth time this year the team has made double digits in treys. The club now ranks ninth on the single-season charts with 161 triples, moving past the 2006-07 team who sank 159. The all-time mark for three-pointers in a season is 195 by the 2015-16 team.
• After only blocking seven shots in her first 111 games, senior Lexi Torres has blocked one shot in each of the last three games.

UP NEXT
The Rattlers return home to Bill Greehey Arena to host Western New Mexico on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and Texas-Permian Basin on Saturday at 2 p.m. This will be the first meeting between the teams this season.